Caracas, 11 June 2015.- The Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), in accordance with the guidelines of the Latin American Council and of decisions and action plans of CELAC, has prepared and forwarded to the Member States of SELA the document “Economic and cooperation relations between Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union,” which started yesterday in Brussels.

The document, prepared by the Permanent Secretariat, is an update of the study released in November 2014, which served as the basis for discussion at the Regional Meeting to monitor and analyze the economic situation of the European Union and its impact on the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, held at the headquarters of SELA with the participation of Ambassador Aude Maio-Coliche, Representative of the European Union Delegation in Venezuela.

In this connection, the Permanent Secretariat makes available to its Member States and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), which together make up the CELAC membership, a systematic assessment of the status of economic, financial and social relations between the two regions, focusing on the most relevant aspects of the agenda of the II EU-CELAC Summit, in order to contribute to the definition of the Latin American and Caribbean positions in the current event.

The 2014 report noted that in recent years bi-regional relations have evolved in the context of the persistent economic crisis in Europe, and that there were warning signs of a weak recovery in the old continent, including the depreciation of the euro and the drastic fall in oil prices. The updated document prepared in 2015 reaffirms forecasts of slow economic growth for the EU.

As indicated in the reports, in view of the structural problems that hinder increase in productivity and affect potential growth in both regions, it is essential to implement public policies in order to restore confidence, promote economic efficiency and create favourable expectations, while reducing unemployment and supporting the recovery of aggregate demand through expansionary fiscal and monetary policies.

Within this framework, characterized by rather modest growth in both regions, the EU and CELAC countries have incentives to try to optimize bi-regional economic and cooperation relations. Precisely, as noted in the 2014 report, the countries of the region could take advantage of the proliferation of initiatives undertaken by several European countries with the purpose of maintaining and even reinforcing their commercial, financial and investment relations with CELAC countries.

The study evaluates the context in which bi-regional negotiations have evolved during the final stage of the preparation for the Brussels Summit. In addition, the document analyzes the most important recent developments regarding cooperation initiatives between the two regions. In this connection, the study underscores the potential effects of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The documents prepared by SELA as a contribution to the II Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the European Union stress the importance of opening up a permanent dialogue between the EU and CELAC, in order to advance positions on the need for reform of the poor international financial architecture.